Ayyoub Bouaddi earns Erling Haaland praise after Manchester City impact

Despite Manchester City’s 4-2 defeat by Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Wednesday, Ayyoub Bouaddi emerged as one of the night’s biggest talking points after transforming his side’s midfield in the second half.

The 18-year-old Morocco international came on at half-time and helped City recover from a dismal opening 45 minutes, earning praise from former France international Sidney Govou and, more notably, Erling Haaland.

Paris Saint-Germain had dominated the first half and went into the interval 3-0 ahead. With Manchester City’s midfield struggling, Enzo Maresca made three substitutions, including replacing Rayan Cherki with Bouaddi.

The change significantly altered the visitors’ performance. Bouaddi brought composure, energy and technical precision to an area of the pitch where City had been severely lacking before the break.

Having already impressed in the 2-0 victory over FC Porto, the former Lille player again demonstrated that he is capable of performing at the highest level. He handled the Parisian press confidently, broke lines with his passing and made intelligent forward runs.

His influence was clear in the 75th minute, when he delivered a perfectly weighted cut-back for Haaland. The Norway international scored his second goal of the evening, although City could not complete the comeback and ultimately lost 4-2.

Bouaddi completed 93% of his passes, won 100% of his duels and recovered eight balls. That was the joint-highest total in the match, alongside Vitinha, despite Bouaddi playing only 45 minutes.

His display drew an enthusiastic reaction from Govou during Canal+’s live coverage.

“He really made a difference. What he is doing is enormous,” said Govou. “He is showing a great deal of maturity and technical precision, as well as a desire to play forward.”

Senegal international Iliman Ndiaye also contributed to City’s improvement after being introduced at half-time in place of Jeremy Doku, adding greater threat in attack.

Although Manchester City were unable to overturn the result against an inspired Paris Saint-Germain team, Bouaddi’s performance provided one of the clearest positives for Maresca. His team-mates appeared to share that assessment.

Haaland commented “MAN OF THE MATCH” beneath Bouaddi’s latest Instagram post. The recognition carried particular significance because the Norwegian had directly benefited from Bouaddi’s assist for his second goal.

It was not only the midfielder’s technical ability that stood out. At 18, Bouaddi played with notable maturity and appeared unfazed by the pressure or occasion of a major European fixture.

Manchester City supporters already seem convinced by the club’s new number 32, a shirt previously worn by Carlos Tevez. His performance has raised the question of whether his role could now develop into a more regular starting position.